-----Warning, sappy areas ahead----------
So I guess the most logical place to start is the end of the last chapter. After working at Jackson for 4.5 years, it was time to say goodbye. I thought I would sneak out the side doors a couple of hours early (Sorry boss-men!) and think nothing of it. I would go about my life, and my former coworkers theirs. Turns out that was no where near the case! I feel awful for the people I would have loved to say goodbye to and was not able to, but after 4 hours of walking around, I was getting emotionally tired! I never realized how much people at work meant to me, and and thankful that they were nice enough to entertain me for a couple of minutes so I felt like I meant something too! There are too many people to throw special thank yous out to, but pretty much, I am so fortunate for the start of my career. It is said, you never want to leave a job to get away, but move to a new opportunity for the future. And that was completely the case! And all of this is for all partners down in FL as well! I have become many of your facebook friends (if not, look me up), or you got this through e-mail, and as cliche as it is to say, I do hope we can keep in touch! I am more than happy to assist in any way I can in the future (which of course, for a lot of you with more experience, that seems very unlikely!)
So after finally leaving the building for the last time, I was off for a week of packing, then unpacking and repacking (5 times!) I got some last rounds of golf in, shipped my clubs, and finally settled on 2 bags to carry over. Everything seemed to be falling in place, and the excitement was mounting. My flight left Denver last Tues, Aug 9th. And just as I am getting ready to leave, I notice the news reports. Awesome, the riots in London have somehow spread 200 miles away to Manchester! WHAT THE HELL HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?!?!?! From the sounds of the coverage, I would be lucky if there was still a city standing when I arrived the following day! Things were about to get real interesting - more on this later.
So I get on the 1st leg, flying from Denver to Newark. Should be a simple 4 hour flight, everything scheduled to be on time. But when they started boarding us, I noticed something different. Now I have flown a fair bit in my life, and know how long it takes to board a plane. I also try to avoid sitting towards the back of the plane, but in this case, it was the only aisle seat available when I booked. So boarding the plane was miserable. I have never seen a group of such inconsiderate people in my life! Now, I don't think they woke up in the morning thinking, I want to try to make the plane as late as possible by being completely clueless on etiquett about how to get on a plane, quickly and properly store my bags, and get in my seat so I don't hold up the other 200 passengers trying to get someplace. This forshadowed the events to follow. I understand people have to use the bathroom on a long flight. I do too. But what I don't understand is how you think it is appropriate to line up in the narrow ass rows, 4 people deep, hovering over a group of passengers who paid just as much money for a ticket as you did. I can't tell you how many, but for nearly 3 hours, I had someones elbow, hand or ass brushing my shoulder and invading my personal space. At one point the fasten seat belt sign came on. My excitement from a break of rando's watching my movie (Kings Speech - even with the distractions - still a really good movie) over my shoulder while you wait to use the bathroom a 2nd time was quickly turned into more of the same. Apparently, people are more important than the fasten seatbelt sign these days too!
And that brings me to my 1st bit of social commentary. What the hell happened to us?!?!??! Remember a time when people actually respected and attempted to be aware of their common wo/man? Once again, I don't think it was anything done to intentionally upset me or any of the other passengers stuck in the back of the plane, but I was just absolutely astonished about peoples lack of consideration and respect for fellow passengers what to me, seems like basic plane etiquette! How can we expect congress, our states, our business, our relationships to continue to grow when we can't think about how our actions affect someone trying to watch a movie while traveling! Something has to change!
So Newark was an easy change over, after making sure I went to the bathroom twice (no waiting in the aisle for me) and a 2 hour delay, I was on the plane to Manchester, with a little bit of faith restored in humanity. This flight seemed much better, people helping each other store their luggage, smiles on faces. Good to know not everyone has gone down hill! An easy flight later, I was finally in Manchester.
After getting settled, well as much as you can into my temporary accommodation, I was able to meet up with another American who had arrived a few hours earlier, and from there our numbers just started growing. Each day, more and more students are arriving, soon to be 116 total! It is fun being on the early side, because we have been able to meet people over a time period, instead a group of 20 all at once. (Can you imagine trying to remember 115 names all at once!)
The city of Manchester is BEAUTIFUL! I really like it a lot. Thankfully, a few, as the newspapers calls them, Yobs, did not ruin the city for the rest of us. It is a unique mix of old and new. Lots of history and architecture. Lots of new glass buildings. All right next to each other, as you can see! (editors note, i don't know how to work this, so I hope it comes out the way intended. For all of my pictures, please visit http://joshnewell.shutterfly.com)
The city is almost in an identity crisis. Does it want to keep its old, Northern England small town charm, or grow up into a larger metropolitan and modern city. A lot like Denver in a lot of ways, just with more history. The people are all amazing (except for those Yobs), most of which I have been in interact were generally embarrassed about what had happened just a few nights before. The one sad area, is the fact it is very dirty. A lot of trash on the grounds, and its not getting better so I don't think it is because of the riots. There are no trash cans any where in public - maybe a correlation? And don't worry - Manchester has a ....
While I was not suprised riots happened (I'm looking at you CSU students, 2003,2004,2005 ect..) I was astonished on several things about them. 1st, the riots in Manchester had NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING other than kids, young adults and fake adults (you know, people of age that still act like jackasses) wanting to loot and pillage. Maybe a little entitlement showing it's ugly face? Number 2, at least in Manchester, it wasn't that bad. Once again, it's all about perspective. But a few smashed up windows, some stolen goods, sounds like a NBA Championship/World Series/Super Bowl/5 v 5 community basketball title celebration. I mean, as Americans, we riot for anything. Maybe they wanted theirs too? Number 3 - if you do something bad, you are called a Yob, and everyone will know about it. I wasn't able to get a picture, but they had a billboard driving around town (back of a truck, not an actual billboard driving) with people's faces. And not like Boulder 420 fest, where cops reward you for ratting your friends. Nope, parents took their kids to the police, friends turned in their roommates, if you were guilty, you weren't safe. Every day, the newspaper has what can best be described as a scoreboard recap. Name, age, what yobbish thing you did, and your sentence. Finally, the justice here is swift and severe. 2 guys posted a meet up place on facebook to go riot. For that - they each got 4 years. A mom, who took a pair of stolen shorts from her roommate. She did not participate, just received one single pair of shorts - well she will be spending the next 6 months away from her kid. Stole a pack of gum? 8 months. 2 bottles of Booze? That'll cost you the next 1.5 years (while these aren't the exact sentences, they are not very far from what the punishments actually are). In the US, this would NEVER fly. It is quite interesting to think about, caught with a unlicensed firearm Plaxico Buress? Welp you will never see the light of day again. Could severe punishment serve as a deterrent? For the record, I don't think it would work, but interesting to see how different cultures deal with social issues. Just food for thought...
The honeymoon of moving to Mancheseter lasted for about a day. And then a funny thing happened. I got sad. Like really really sad. My body was jet lagged, I was, and still am sleeping in a single bed (haven't done that since college), and I just laid in bed late at night. Was this the right decision? I left an amazing job, my family, an amazing girlfriend, great friends, my grandma, and frankly a pretty kick ass life. To just push reset - restart life with a large debt and hope for the best. What the hell was I thinking? I felt isolated, alone and lost. You see, when I was leaving Denver, I never had to confront these issues. I had Manchester to look forward too! An amazing, life changing experience. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but damn, it wasn't suppose to be this hard. Even today, I still feel completely unsettled. Simple things, like having a smart phone, take time to get set up. I have a bank account, and pin numbers for my debit cards, but no debit cards yet. I have a place to live, yet and still in the single bed because I can get online and still have contact with friends back home here. I am still in the transition. So the 1st several nights were hard. The people are great, and we would go for drinks and have a good laugh, only to return at night to the solitude. But thankfully, it is getting better. Kathryn has been amazing in helping me through this. My mom and Mike, as well as everyone I have talked to back home as well. It took me some time to embrace the difficulties of the next 18 months. I told everyone that it was another journey, that anyone could come along with. And evolution, not a reset. But I didn't see that the 1st couple of days. I was alone. I imagine this feeling is a bit natural for all of us moving over here, and have been able to connect with a couple of peers that were going through the same things. But it doesn't make it any bit easier. (That is part of the reason I would love to hear from everyone!!!)
I am so lucky that Kathryn has been, is and will be in my life for a long long time. She helped me adjust to that, and realize, as crazy as this adventure will be, and yes, it will be, that the Manchester MBA is where I am suppose to be. I have already started studying, excited for class to start (bet my parents wished I was like that through school and my undergrad!), and ready to kick every challanges ass on the way to the end. When I look back in a couple of years, and I will have an amazing experience to reflect on, and really, in the grand scheme of things, it's only 18 months (or at least that is what I keep telling myself!) But until then, I will live it the adventure, each and every day. I will share my experiences with anyone wanting to listen. Hopefully this will inspire you, or get you to think about something in a different manner, or even be something you can learn a little from. And that is why, I remembered what I forgot for the 1st couple of days, that this is truly A Shared Journey. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you!
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